Copyholder



Dec. 1, 1936. BLAKE-MAN 2,062,964

COPY HOLDER Filed April 29, 1956 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COPYHOLDER Benjamin F. Blakeman, Greensboro, N. (7., assignor of one-half to Booker E. Rhudy, Greensboro, N. 0.

Application April 29, 1936, Serial No. 77,062

1 Claim.

This invention relates to copyholders for use in conjunction with typewriters and, among other objects, aims to provide a greatly improved, portable copyholder for use in transcribing type- 5 written matter, one line at a time, and having pawl and ratchet mechanism adapted to be operated by the carriage of the typewriter as the carriage moves to the left, to expose the typing to be transcribed. One of the principal aims of the invention is to provide novel actuating means for the ratchet mechanism including a flexible lever or member adapted to be arranged in the path of the typewriter carriage so that when the carriage strikes it, it will operate the ratchet lb and pawl mechanism gradually as the carriage continues to move and thereby prevent the feed roll for the paper from being turned too far.

Other aims and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification, when considered 20 in connection with the accompanying drawing,

wherein:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a copyholder embodying the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the 'copyholder 25 shown in Fig. 1.

Referring particularly to the drawing, the copyholder there shown has a frame which is conveniently made of strap metal. In this instance, it has a vertical, substantially horizontal 30 frame conveniently made in two vertical sections so that the frame parts can be dismantled and will occupy a minimum space, for example within a typewriter desk. The bottom of the frame is shown as having rubber feet ll so that it can 35 be placed on a table or support behind a typewriter without injuring the surface. The vertical frame is shown as having a hinged horizontal frame member l2 at the left hand side adapted to be opened substantially at right angles to the 10 plane of the vertical frame and extending forwardly to a point near the front of an ordinary typewriter. It also has a supporting rubber foot ll like the feet of the vertical frame. The wing frame l2 provides journal bearings for an oscillatable operating bar or shaft I3 having a handle M at the forward end and a crank arm [5 at the rear end. The crank arm 15 is connected to operate a pawl "3 which cooperates with a 50 ratchet l1 and the ratchet operates a feed roll I8 for the paper. In this instance, the crank arm [5 has a link l9 connected to a pivoted lever 2|] which carries the pawl l6 and the pawl is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 2 by 55 means of a spring 2|. The stroke of the pawl may be adjusted by means of a set screw 22 as best shown in Fig. 2.

The paper is adapted to be clamped on the feed roll I8 by means of a metal roll 23 conveniently made of a round bar confined between 5 the sides of the vertical frame by suitable U- shaped fingers 24 preferably in the form of pieces of wire, welded or otherwise secured to the top of the frame Ill.

The feed mechanism is adapted to be operated automatically by the carriage of any standard typewriter as the carriage moves to the left, it being understood that the automatic mechanism is best adapted for copying typed matter linefor-line. In this instance, the operating shaft I3 is shown as having an upstanding arm 25 carrying a horizontal socket member 26 within which is frictionally and adjustably mounted a bent rod or bar 21 having an arm 28 adapted to strike the outside of the arm 25. The arm 28 is shown as having an upwardly bent end 29 to carry an operating lever. Herein, the operating lever is in the form of a coil spring 30 slipped on said arm and having a finger 3| projecting upwardly into the path of the typewriter carriage C 25 of av suitable bracket connected thereto. The finger 3| may be inserted in the upper convolutions of said spring 30 and welded thereto. The spring permits the finger to bend after the carriage has operated the ratchet mechanism to 0 bring up the next line of the copy and the adjusting screw 22 has arrested the movement of the pawl. It does not interfere with the free stepby-step movement of the carriage. In other words, the typist is permitted to go ahead and finish her line without changing the space already produced.

To prevent the paper in the typewriter from obscuring the typed matter being copied, there is shown a metal shield 32 frictionally mounted on a horizontal bar or rod 33 welded between the sides of the vertical frame. This shield is shown as having an upwardly bent flange 34 to guide the end of the paper from the typewriter downwardly against the'front face. This shield may be adjusted to any desired position without interfering with the free movement of the typewriter carriage.

To enable a typist to read the lines on the work to be copied as they are exposed by the feed roll, there is shown the usual line gauge 35 in the form of a plate pivoted on a U-shaped wire or rod 36 projecting forwardly from the sides of the vertical frame below the axis of the feed roll, as shown in Fig. 2.

To enable the frame to be dismantled and stored in a typewriter cabinet or desk with the typewriter, or for shipping purposes, the vertical frame sections are-shown as being held together mechanism may be unhooked from the pivoted lever 20 and the upper section of the vertical frame removed. Then, the horizontal frame member I! with the actuating rod or shaft and other mechanism, may be swung rearwardly against the vertical frame.

It will be understood that-as the typewriter carriage moves to the left, it will strike the finger 3|, first bending the spring slightly and then imparting slow step-by-step movement to the operating rod or shaft I3 until the ratchet has been fully actuated, either one step or two steps, depending upon the spacing between the lines of the work to be copied. The feeding movement of the roll is first adjusted by the screw 22 to correspond with the spacing between the typed lines on the work to be copied. As the typewriter carriage is pushed back to its starting position for the next line, the tension of the spring 2| returns the operating bar or shaft and the finger to its starting position, so that the pawl is ready to actuate the feed roller on the next trip of the carriage.

by simply pressing the lever or crank arm I to the left. A simple sweep of the hand will suflice for this purpose. a

From the foregoing description, it will be understood that copyholders embodying this invention may be manufactured at a relatively small cost. The manufacturing operations involve mainly cutting, bending, punching, brazing and fitting together simple parts which can be produced very economically. I

Obviously, the present invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all the features of the invention be used conjointly, since they may be employed advantageously'in various combinations and subcombinations. \What I claim is:

A copyholder comprising, in combination, a vertical frame; a feed roller carried by the frame; ratchet means for operating said roller; a horizontal frame member hingedly secured to the vertical frame member on one side; an operating shaft journaled in said horizontal frame member; an upstanding arm on said operating shaft; a coil spring operatively secured to said upstanding arm; and a finger carried by said coil spring adapted to be arranged in the path of a typewriter carriage as the carriage moves to the left to impart actuating movement to the ratchet mechanism and being bendable to permit the typewriter carriage to move to its full extent after the mechanism has been operated.

BENJAMIN F. BLAKEMAN. 

